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Bob Dukes will be in the stands at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 31, cheering for Jeff Gordon to win a record fifth Brickyard 400 — and the first in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

The next day, as he does most Mondays, Dukes will volunteer at the Community Kitchen of Monroe County, which serves free meals daily except Sunday. About one-sixth of those meals are served to older people.

"It's fun," said Dukes, 62, a retired special education teacher from Bloomington. "And it's a nice feeling to know you're helping people in the community."

More Hoosiers will gain awareness of hunger and a willingness to help this summer when the 18th Brickyard 400 puts the Drive to End Hunger, a multiyear initiative of AARP, AARP Foundation, Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports, at the center of attention for Indiana NASCAR fans.

"Nothing is more Indiana than auto racing," said June Lyle, AARP Indiana state director. "This is a great opportunity to connect with something that a lot of people really love and feel passionate about."

Lyle said AARP Indiana hopes the exposure at the racetrack will allow it to further several goals of the Drive to End Hunger:

Increase donations to Indiana's 11 Feeding America food banks.

Improve awareness of hunger among older people and what can be done about it.

Attract more volunteers, who are crucial to the operation of food banks and meal programs.

And many older residents don't access benefits that could help provide nutritious food, possibly because they're too embarrassed to ask for help or don't think they qualify. Only about one-third of the roughly 115,000 eligible Hoosiers who are 60 and older received federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in 2009.

Susan Ellis, director of Elders at the Table, an Indianapolis coalition of nonprofit organizations working to eradicate hunger among older people, said the issue's very complexity makes the task difficult. Poverty is a factor, she said, but a lack of transportation, social isolation and health problems also play a role.

"Pride is a huge issue," Ellis said. "Many seniors are not even going to admit to loved ones that they don't have enough food, let alone to someone else."